Local church to host lunch, auction benefit for Fulton man with rare cancer

When True Manufacturing forklift operator Michael Newcom of Fulton was diagnosed with a rare type of bone cancer, his coworkers wasted no time organizing an event to help him and his family.

“Tracy, his wife, had said she was worried about how they are going to get the bills paid ... because he’s the main source of income,” said Newcom’s coworker April Gevermuehle. “We have another lady at work who had stomach cancer and we did a 5K run for. We knew it was too cold to do a 5K and were throwing out ideas ... and someone mentioned some kind of soup luncheon.”

From there, the Chili Luncheon For A Cause was born. The event will be held noon to 3 p.m. Feb. 23 at Callaway Christian Church, featuring a variety of chilis and other foods, as well as a silent and live auction beginning around 1 p.m, a raffle for a $200 Visa gift card, a 50/50 drawing and more. Tickets are $5 per person or $20 per family.

Organized by coworkers Gevermuehle and Crystal Saunders and Newcom’s aunt-in-law Shelley Bryant, all proceeds will benefit Newcom and his family, including his kids, Dylan and Caelyn.